Have you heard the good news? Jesus lived a life without sin on our behalf, and then died the painful death our sins deserve. In other great news, the RCSA Awards finalists have been announced for 2022. Woohoo! Those who read my musings on a regular basis will know that my excitement is in jest. The RCSA have always held a special place in my heart; a place lodged firmly between tooth decay and pensioner sex. And if you’ve seen the same five poor bastards who get up and dance at the RCSA awards each year, you’ll get the “pensioner sex” reference. Anyway, I previously took the time to pick the winners for SEEKs rival SARA Awards (yes I know I’ve done an “ASB Bank” by duplicating the acronym, but non-recruiters sometimes accidently read this), so it’s only fair that I park my cynicism for an industry body who steals your money and does f**k-all for you, and give the same treatment to these awards. Take a deep breath Sean, you can do this.
Excellence in Candidate Care:
- Absolute IT
- Salt
- Frog Recruitment
In my experience Absolute IT should win this. Actually, maybe Frog. They’re nice people. However, the RCSA have different metrics to most when it comes to judging awards. Some of us care about performance, others are more concerned on how many RCSA events a firm pays to attend. Given the GM of Salt is a long-term Imperial Wizard of the RCSA, or whatever nonsense title they care to bestow on those who pay the bunce, it’s going to Salt.
Excellence in Client Service:
- Hunter Campbell
- Salt
- Frog Recruitment
Two finalist from the category before suggests how inundated the RCSA were with applicants. If Salt don’t win the first one, then they’ve got this. But I’ll pretend for a moment that this is a level playing field and pick Hunter Campbell all day long. I will of course be wrong.
Excellence in Safety & Wellbeing Culture:
- Advanced Personnel Services Ltd
- Alignz Recruitment
- AWF
I am in absolutely no position to comment, so this will be based on the quality of the bid writer, and who paid for an overpriced conference in Queenstown to listen to Greg Savage read his book at you. AWF??
Excellence in Social Purpose:
- IHC Group
- Ōtorohanga Employment Hub
- Alignz Recruitment
- Accordant – The Work Collective
I’m a big fan of the Kiwiana town of Ōtorohanga. Perhaps most famous for its Maccas on the way to the mountain, I myself prefer the Thirsty Weta. Add to that, The Rock’s quite frankly hilarious song based on the town twinned with LA (scroll down to find it here – you won’t be disappointed) , means that I can’t see past Ōtorohanga Employment Hub picking up the gong.
Industry Leader 2022 – Sponsored by Indeed:
- Lee Marshall MRCSA (Hunter Campbell )
- Jonathan Greening (Archway Recruitment )
- Mike Westbury MRCSA (One Eighty Recruitment )
I’m going to guess that all of these people are paid up members, and active participants of the RCSA. And when nominees are awarded points for being paid up members and attending events (I shit you not), it’s anybody’s guess. I know two of the nominees pretty well, but I’m picking Titirangi local boy Lee Marshall. If he brings back the silverware, there’ll be tie-dying and weed-smoking a plenty on the streets of Auckland’s most hippy of suburbs on the night.
Outstanding Boutique Agency:
- Fraser People
- Automotive Employment NZ
An award so prestigious, two companies entered. My pick – Fraser People. A coin told me so.
Outstanding Large Agency – Sponsored by Indeed:
- Enterprise Recruitment
- OneStaff
- Randstad
- Hays Specialist Recruitment
Hmmm. I think Enterprise will take this, although I’d actually like to see Hays win. Hays can get a bad rap at times, but they’ve probably trained more recruiters, and placed more candidates than the firm you or I work for combined. Respect. I’m picking Enterprise though on the basis that “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” and I dislike the RCSA (can you tell) and Enterprise don’t like Rice Consulting, so it’s befitting that they win.
Outstanding Medium Agency:
- Archway Recruitment
- Salt
Salt are already in the mix for two, of which they’ll certainly win one. If Johnny is pipped at the post by Lee or Mike for Industry Leader, then this is Archway all day long. Good firm, so I can’t begrudge this one.
Outstanding Supplier 2022:
- Leedsafe
- Aims Global Immigration
- Hnry
Aims Global Immigration must have had a slow couple of years. Leedsafe have “safe” in their name so that probably ticks someone’s box somewhere. Hnry are the darlings of almost everyone these days, so I’m picking……Leedsafe. On Googling, they do safety equipment and clothing which is more folksy than a tech company and that’s more the vibe of the RCSA I reckon.
Recruitment Professional 2022 – Sponsored by SEEK:
- Anand Ranchhod APRCSA (CoLegal Recruitment )
- Mark Harper (Find Recruitment )
- Isabella Tyrell (Alignz Recruitment )
Anand has got this. Don’t ask me how I know. I just do.
Rising Star 2022:
- Phoenix Reilly (Remarkable People )
- Samsara Cawley (Randstad )
- Sergio Orellana (Randstad )
If Samsara or Sergio win this award, I expect them to do a reverse-Kanye and concede this to Phoenix Reilly. Phoenix’s parents did not take the risk of calling their daughter “Phoenix” only for her to come second in a “rising star” category. Her name is Phoenix and this is her destiny. So mote it be.
Anyway, that’s my predictions. And genuinely, best of luck to those who are finalists. I’ve entered plenty of lame awards in my time, so no disrespect to the nominees or attendees. It’s a night on the tiles, and that little “RCSA” logo on your email signature is great marketing for prospective clients. It’s just not for me.
^SW
